Taxi

5. Bad liar

The woman who booked Samtou walked out of the house with a suitcase and opened the car door, but was stopped right away by a man coming after her. He grabbed the door and stopped her from closing it.

"Sandra, You can't just text me out of nowhere to break up, and expect me to simply comply!" The man was almost yelling, but she remained calm.

"What else do you want me to say?" she shrugged. "I told you already, I fell in love with someone else. Do you expect us to keep dating?"

"Who's that man? Do you want me to believe you fell in love with someone else within a week? Or were you two-timing?"

"Exactly," she said, obviously annoyed. "Now please excuse me, I have to meet him at the airport. We're going on a trip."

"You're lying," he frantically rubbed his free hand over his head. "I know you're lying. What is going on exactly?"

"I'm not lying, Ben!" She was losing patience, and suddenly raised the voice. "Listen, I don't love you anymore. Is it so hard to understand?"

"Yes, it is!" He kneeled right before her, in the street where anyone could see him, but he didn't seem to care. "Tell me, did I do something wrong? Is it because I couldn't make it on time to your sister's wedding? Or because I didn't wash my dishes last time? Tell me what went wrong!"

"You did nothing, Ben, so please stand up!" she got out of the car and pulled him up. She sighed heavily and looked at him, eyes full of regrets. "You did absolutely nothing wrong. It's all my fault. I had a change of heart. So you should blame me."

He inspired deeply and closed his eyes to calm down, then looked at her again. "Do you love him? Does he make you happy?"

For a moment, Samtou thought that she was going to say no and throw herself into the man's arms. But she didn't. "Yes. I am the happiest woman in the world with him."

The man finally stepped aside, and after a moment of hesitation, she got back in the car, they finally left.

"To the airport, Ma'am?" He asked to confirm.

"No. The cancer center, please."

Samtou quickly glanced at the rearview, and saw her wiping a tear off her cheek. But then another came down, and another. Soon, she was trying hard to contain her sobs.

Samtou generally didn't play music while with a customer, but he turned the music on. And her sobbing slowly drowned under Imagine Dragons 'Bad Liar'.

An hour later, Samtou was standing In front of a hospital room. He hadn't been around for quite some time, leaving his aunt taking care of his sick mother.

She had been diagnosed with an advanced congestive heart failure, and didn't have much time left. Samtou was working hard to pay the bills, and couldn't visit often. To be honest, seeing her in this state tore his heart in pieces, so he was running away from the pain by overworking himself.

But after the scene earlier, he decided to take his day, and spend some time with her. At least he had this opportunity, and he didn't want to regret it later.

"Hello, mum!" he cheerfully greeted as he opened the door.